“Tall, Dark and Tasty”: Masculinity in Food and Beverage Advertising

Abstract Food and drinks are necessary components of daily life. Similar to other types of advertising, food advertising frequently employs images of models to promote a company’s products, thus creating stereotypically gendered representations. This study aims to analyse the key discursive strategies employed in the representation of masculinity (and femininity) in contemporary food and beverage advertising in a sample of 35 print advertisements launched between 2000 and 2020. Food and beverages constitute utilitarian products, in contrast to hedonic products. This study analyses posters that promote products that fit into five major categories: (1) alcoholic and (2) non-alcoholic beverages, (3) fast food, (4) snacks, and (5) sport nutrition, in order to trace the relation between the types of endorsed products and the strategies employed in the representations of masculinity. Among the brands advertised are Burger King, Carl’s Jr., Coca-Cola, Maximuscle, McDonald’s, KFC and Nespresso. The study investigates how ideals of masculinity (and femininity) are represented, especially in terms of body ideals, and how these representations construct and promote socially desirable gendered bodies, thus having an impact on an individual’s satisfaction with their own body. We will show that the “framing of visibility” featuring male models as strong and therefore powerful, with trained muscular bodies, is contrasted with the “framing of invisibility,” in which female models are primarily represented as skinny and lightweight, but hyper-feminine and sexually appealing, which in turn leads to their objectification and sexualisation.